D.J. Short

Waiver Wired

My Favorite Martin

When you really think about it, Nix on the Blue Jays makes a ton of sense. The 28-year-old has a lousy .216 batting average and 168/57 K/BB ratio over 726 major league plate appearances, so it's not like I'm expecting a breakthrough there, but Rogers Centre is one of the better venues for right-hander power in the majors. Jose Bautista is expected to return from the birth of his first daughter on Friday, which will send Nix back to the bench, but I could still see him finishing the year with 10-15 homers in a part-time role.

Probably not who you expected to see here, but this is an ideal time to pluck Carrasco off the waiver wire. There's a chance some owners cut bait on him after he allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings against the White Sox on Saturday, but I see much better days ahead. Remember, the 24-year-old right-hander had an impressive 3.83 ERA and 38/14 K/BB ratio over 44 2/3 innings as a September call-up last season. The Indians' offense probably won't give him much support, but I'm not giving up on this guy.

After a monster spring (.297 batting average with six homers), Trumbo is batting .286 (6-for-21) with two doubles, two RBI and a stolen base over the first five games of the season. Playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League likely helped, but he tied Mike Moustakas for the minor league lead with 36 home runs last season. The 25-year-old should continue to see most of the playing time at first base until Kendrys Morales is ready to return, so he makes for a pretty solid short-term play.

Getz has a .254/.317/.320 career batting line and almost no power whatsoever, so you're probably asking yourself what he's doing here. Well, he's playing everyday for Ned Yost and is 43-for-49 (88 percent) in stolen base attempts during his career. I wouldn't be surprised if Wilson Betemit (or the aforementioned Moustakas) eventually finds his way into the lineup, forcing Getz to compete with Mike Aviles for at-bats, but right now the 27-year-old makes for a cheap speed option at the second base position.

I'm not kidding here. I actually like Charlie Morton. Yes, the very same guy who had a 7.57 ERA over 17 starts last season, easily the highest ERA among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched. Granted, Morton wasn't exactly brilliant against the Cardinals on Monday -- he issued five walks -- but he also gave up just one run over six innings while recording 15 outs on the ground compared to just one fly out. The 27-year-old right-hander always had good stuff, so if he can continue having success with his sinker, he'll have some value in NL-only leagues. Keep an eye on him.

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said Tuesday that Miranda -- not Russell Branyan -- will get the majority of the starts at first base. I'm not completely convinced that this is exactly how the situation will play out, but the organization obviously wants to see what he can do. Miranda signed with the Yankees for $2 million back in 2006, but was never given much of an opportunity there, despite batting .287/.374/.481 with an .855 OPS at the Triple-A level over the past three seasons. Chase Field is a pretty favorable environment for hitters, so he's worth plugging in there against right-handed pitching at the very least.

Ramos, who was acquired from the Twins in the Matt Capps deal last July, went 2-for-5 in his second start of the season Tuesday. The 23-year-old is expected to split playing time with Ivan Rodriguez in the early part of the season, but look for him to be the primary catcher in Washington before long. His plate discipline is a work in progress and he is somewhat of a durability question, but he knows how to handle the bat and possesses sneaky pop from the right side of the plate. Stash him now if you have the room.

The Mets picked up Emaus from the Jays in December's Rule 5 Draft and while he didn't do much until the end of spring training, it was obvious he was the organization's preferred option at second base all along. The 25-year-old put up some impressive numbers with Triple-A Las Vegas last season, but they were undoubtedly inflated by playing in the Pacific Coast League. As a result, he's somewhat of an unknown quantity here. What we do know is that Emaus has some pop and knows how to take a pitch. With a clear path to playing time in a pretty good lineup, he should be owned in every NL-only league.

Welcome to the season's first edition of Waiver Wired. I'll be your humble host each and every Thursday, doing my very best to pass along some players to consider on your league's waiver wire.

With this weekly column, you can expect coverage of mixed leagues, as well as AL-only and NL-only leagues.

You'll notice that I'm once again using ownership percentages from Yahoo! and ESPN. Early on in the season, there will be some differences between the two sites, partially because of their respective pre-draft rankings. Expect those numbers to even out over the next couple of weeks.

In a way, this is the most difficult column I'll write all year. We only have a few games of data to work with and the majority of the players you'll find below went undrafted in most leagues. Perhaps they were overlooked or maybe they just weren't good enough to make your initial roster. In other words, I might look back and laugh at a couple of these recommendations in September. Then again, hopefully some of them can help give a boost to your roster for the long haul.

The no-brainer add of the week, really. He's probably already gone if you play in a competitive league, but for some reason it doesn't look like everybody has received the message. Mike Scioscia named Walden as his new closer after Fernando Rodney blew up in epic fashion Sunday against the Royals. He has indicated that the change may only be a temporary one, but Walden certainly has the stuff to run away with the job. The hard-throwing right-hander earned his first save Tuesday and pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Rays. He's one example of a guy who could stick on your roster all year long.

Hardy is just 3-for-14 (.214) to begin the season, but hang with me for a second. While he batted .268 with just six homers and 38 RBI last season, realize that he was dealing with a wrist injury for most of the year and played half of his games in one of the least hitter-friendly parks in the league. He's in a much better place after the trade to Baltimore. And in his walk year, no less. I wouldn't be shocked if he delivered 15-20 homers, which would give him sneaky value from the shortstop position.

Dickey was an obvious choice for "bust" lists this spring, but you wouldn't know it from his season debut Sunday against the Marlins. He gave up only an unearned run over six innings while walking three and striking out seven. You'll often see Dickey lumped in with other knuckleballers, but the 36-year-old right-hander throws his harder than most, which often throws hitters off balance and induces plenty of ground balls. I'm confident that he'll be the most valuable fantasy starter on the Mets' staff this season.

Where's the love for this guy? Seriously. After years of sharing playing time with the likes of Yorvit Torrealba and Miguel Olivo, Iannetta finally has the starting catcher job all to himself. Sure, he's unlikely to hit for a high batting average, but his combination of power and patience gives him breakthrough potential at the catcher position, especially in leagues that count on-base percentage and OPS. 20 homers are legitimate possibility here.

I'm still of the opinion that Drew Storen will be the primary closer in Washington before long, but the first save opportunity of the season went to Burnett on Saturday. And why not? He's probably the most reliable option in Jim Riggleman's bullpen at the moment. Burnett averaged 8.9 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 2010 and while many consider him a left-handed specialist, he actually held right-handed batters to a .182/.253/.234 batting line over 151 plate appearances last season. You'll probably have to drop him at some point, but if you can't get Walden, he's the one to own.

Will we ever give up on this guy? As much as Gordon has disappointed fantasy owners over the years, we can be awful quick to forgive. The former 2005 first-round pick has multi-hit games in four out of his last five, including five doubles and a home run. He's also batting third in the Royals' lineup, which gives a nice boost to his value. I'm less enthusiastic about him in leagues where he only qualifies in the outfield, but he's a worthwhile target if you can plug him at third base, especially if you need a fill-in for Evan Longoria.

Here's another example of someone who is probably gone in most competitive leagues. Martin, who was non-tendered by the Dodgers in December, has hit safely in four out of his first five games, including a three-run homer in Saturday's win over the Tigers. He has also stolen two bases, which should answer any lingering concerns about his hip and surgically-repaired knee. Granted, he's coming off back-to-back near identical mediocre seasons at the plate, but if there's any place where he could rebound, this is it. He's worth a shot.

I debated whether to include Brandon Beachy, Alexi Ogando or Zach Britton in this spot. All three make for interesting fliers depending on need, but I feel Pineda has the most potential of the lot. The 22-year-old right-hander was impressive in his major league debut Monday against the Rangers, giving up three runs over six innings while striking out four and walking just one. With a fastball that touches the high-90s to go along with a wicked slider, he looks like the perfect complement to Felix Hernandez atop of the M's rotation. His offense isn't going to help him much, but I could see him putting up some gaudy numbers at Safeco in his rookie year.

Harang returned home to San Diego over the winter in hopes of getting his career back on track. He's already off to a pretty good start. The 32-year-old right-hander tossed six innings of one-run ball in Tuesday's win over the Giants. Many will shy away from Harang because he posted a 4.71 ERA from 2008-10, but he did so while averaging 7.4 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. That's pretty good. His fly ball tendencies will be less of a liability in PETCO Park, so he's at least worth using on a matchup basis. Try him against the Dodgers on Sunday.

I'm a big fan of Brantley right now. The 23-year-old is currently batting leadoff and playing center field while Grady Sizemore works his way back from microfracture surgery. And he's done pretty well so far, hitting safely in each of the first five games of the season while also walking three times. His combination of patience and speed makes him a worthwhile short-term acquisition in deeper mixed formats, but he should still see plenty of time in left field once Sizemore returns. I could see around 30 stolen bases if everything breaks right.

When you really think about it, Nix on the Blue Jays makes a ton of sense. The 28-year-old has a lousy .216 batting average and 168/57 K/BB ratio over 726 major league plate appearances, so it's not like I'm expecting a breakthrough there, but Rogers Centre is one of the better venues for right-hander power in the majors. Jose Bautista is expected to return from the birth of his first daughter on Friday, which will send Nix back to the bench, but I could still see him finishing the year with 10-15 homers in a part-time role.

Probably not who you expected to see here, but this is an ideal time to pluck Carrasco off the waiver wire. There's a chance some owners cut bait on him after he allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings against the White Sox on Saturday, but I see much better days ahead. Remember, the 24-year-old right-hander had an impressive 3.83 ERA and 38/14 K/BB ratio over 44 2/3 innings as a September call-up last season. The Indians' offense probably won't give him much support, but I'm not giving up on this guy.

After a monster spring (.297 batting average with six homers), Trumbo is batting .286 (6-for-21) with two doubles, two RBI and a stolen base over the first five games of the season. Playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League likely helped, but he tied Mike Moustakas for the minor league lead with 36 home runs last season. The 25-year-old should continue to see most of the playing time at first base until Kendrys Morales is ready to return, so he makes for a pretty solid short-term play.

Getz has a .254/.317/.320 career batting line and almost no power whatsoever, so you're probably asking yourself what he's doing here. Well, he's playing everyday for Ned Yost and is 43-for-49 (88 percent) in stolen base attempts during his career. I wouldn't be surprised if Wilson Betemit (or the aforementioned Moustakas) eventually finds his way into the lineup, forcing Getz to compete with Mike Aviles for at-bats, but right now the 27-year-old makes for a cheap speed option at the second base position.

I'm not kidding here. I actually like Charlie Morton. Yes, the very same guy who had a 7.57 ERA over 17 starts last season, easily the highest ERA among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched. Granted, Morton wasn't exactly brilliant against the Cardinals on Monday -- he issued five walks -- but he also gave up just one run over six innings while recording 15 outs on the ground compared to just one fly out. The 27-year-old right-hander always had good stuff, so if he can continue having success with his sinker, he'll have some value in NL-only leagues. Keep an eye on him.

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said Tuesday that Miranda -- not Russell Branyan -- will get the majority of the starts at first base. I'm not completely convinced that this is exactly how the situation will play out, but the organization obviously wants to see what he can do. Miranda signed with the Yankees for $2 million back in 2006, but was never given much of an opportunity there, despite batting .287/.374/.481 with an .855 OPS at the Triple-A level over the past three seasons. Chase Field is a pretty favorable environment for hitters, so he's worth plugging in there against right-handed pitching at the very least.

Ramos, who was acquired from the Twins in the Matt Capps deal last July, went 2-for-5 in his second start of the season Tuesday. The 23-year-old is expected to split playing time with Ivan Rodriguez in the early part of the season, but look for him to be the primary catcher in Washington before long. His plate discipline is a work in progress and he is somewhat of a durability question, but he knows how to handle the bat and possesses sneaky pop from the right side of the plate. Stash him now if you have the room.

The Mets picked up Emaus from the Jays in December's Rule 5 Draft and while he didn't do much until the end of spring training, it was obvious he was the organization's preferred option at second base all along. The 25-year-old put up some impressive numbers with Triple-A Las Vegas last season, but they were undoubtedly inflated by playing in the Pacific Coast League. As a result, he's somewhat of an unknown quantity here. What we do know is that Emaus has some pop and knows how to take a pitch. With a clear path to playing time in a pretty good lineup, he should be owned in every NL-only league.